科学的军事理论是战斗力

由科学技术是第一生产力可以得出,科学的军事理论就是战斗力,也是第一战斗力。这个看似显见的论断并不是可有可无,而是值得直白昭示、大力宣扬,它彰显了军事理论的极端重要性。科学的军事理论把握国家安全拓展规律,是军事人才培养的总体方针;科学的军事理论洞察军事技术发展规律,是武器装备建设的根本指导;科学的军事理论洞悉战争演变规律,是作战方式创新的根本遵循。     

Glimpse into an army at its peak: notes on the Somali National Army in the 1960–80s

ABSTRACT

Bagayoko, Hutchful, and Luckham correctly argue that the structures, characteristics, and operating methods of official security institutions in Africa have been somewhat neglected, with a lack of much recent research. The Somali National Army (SNA) sits among these lacunae. Its formal structures can be used as a skeletal starting point and springboard to start to draw the network diagrams that chart informal linkages. This is why recent declassification decisions by U.S. intelligence bodies, coupled with period documents released to the UK National Archives, hold significance in helping us understand early hierarchical SNA arrangements. They show the steady build-up in size of the force, to 1987, to about the time the civil war began to fragment the state.     

Turning the tides of war: The impact of private military and security companies on Nigeria’s counterinsurgency against Boko Haram

Since the 2003 war in Iraq, private military and security companies (PMSCs) have become increasingly legitimate actors in modern conflicts. Despite this normative shift, rumours in March 2015 regarding the use of South African mercenaries in Nigeria to combat Boko Haram insurgents caused an international outrage, while the Nigerian government remained nonchalantly silent on the matter. This article investigates the impact of mercenaries on the conflict in the last six months of the Jonathan government. Using primary and secondary qualitative research, it assesses the role that PMSCs played in Nigeria’s counterinsurgency strategy, along with the ensuing reaction of international and local media to the outsourcing of violence to foreign companies. The article concludes that – notwithstanding the improved image of PMSCs in the world, and the actual impact of the contractors on the Nigerian counterinsurgency effort – the stigma of mercenaries continues to plague the industry, particularly on the African continent.     

建立军民融合创新体系的重大意义

加快形成军民融合创新体系,是习主席在十二届全国人大五次会议解放军代表团全体会议上提出的重大战略思想。建立军民融合创新体系,是顺应军民科技发展新形势的必然抉择,是夯实科技兴军物质基础的内在要求、提升国家创新能力的重大举措、推动创新文化形成的有效途径,也是推进供给侧结构性改革的现实需求。加快形成军民融合创新体系,反映了现代战斗力和生产力生成的规律,体现了统筹国家安全和发展全局的内在要求,为深入实施军民融合发展战略、开创强军兴国新局面指明了方向,具有重大意义。     

What Sticks? The Evaluation of a Train-the-Trainer Course in Military Ethics and its Perceived Outcomes

Ethics training has become a common phenomenon in the training of military professionals at all levels. However, the perceived outcomes of this training remain open. In this article, we analyze the experiences of course participants who were interviewed 6–12 months after they had participated in a train-the-trainer course in military ethics developed by the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy. Through qualitative inductive analysis, it is shown how participants evaluate the training, how they perceive the development of their moral competence, and how they see the impact of the training on their own training practice.     

贯彻科技兴军战略,提高军事职业教育质量水平

发展军事职业教育是健全新型军事人才培养体系的重大举措。贯彻科技兴军战略,必须深刻认识提高军事职业教育质量水平的重大意义,清晰把握提高军事职业教育质量水平的内在要求,切实找准提高军事职业教育质量水平的重要抓手。